Having been in the same class as Ryan for three years, it was a first to see him receive any academic praise. The teachers had always criticized him for being carefree and unmotivated, so this acknowledgment was unprecedented.
Was the sun rising in the west today?
"There's just one question—" Louis fixed his gaze on Ryan, "Did you write it yourself?"
Ryan smiled.
The smile was both disdainful and cold.
"What do you think?"
The question left Louis momentarily dumbfounded!
He awkwardly adjusted his glasses. "Well, it could be your work. If it really is, I'll retract my previous doubt." The campus was plastered with various notices looking for ghostwriters, and many forums on the campus network offered to write papers for hire. Given his understanding of Ryan, he would never go to such lengths for a paper. The quality of this one was almost at the level of being published in a major economic journal.
Ryan disinterestedly turned his gaze toward the trees outside the window and said coldly:
"That's right, it's not my work…"
"The paper is Ryan's!"
A girl suddenly stood up with a hoarse but urgent voice. As she spoke, she coughed violently, her cheeks flushed and her body trembling.
It was—Emily!
The students from the class were nearly speechless. Daisy collapsed weakly onto her desk, suddenly realizing—was this all for nothing? All those late nights were just to help Ryan with his paper?! Yuki capped her pen, her brow furrowing in concern.
Katherine snorted loudly, "Shameless!"
Ryan and Emily were very close.
There was only one seat between them.
Ryan turned his face toward her.
He scrutinized her.
His gaze traveled from her short, soft hair to her pale, cracked lips, to her trembling chest, and to her tightly clenched hands.
Hold on!
Emily gripped her hands tightly, battling her own guilt, fighting the tremors and the chill seeping from her feet. She stared straight at Louis, pressed her lips together, and took a deep breath:
"The ideas in the paper were proposed by Ryan, but I helped him organize them."
Lying was nothing.
Compared to passing his coursework, telling a dozen more lies didn't matter!
Emily told herself this.
But—
The cold stares of her classmates pierced through her. Emily felt a deep chill, as though a fire of shame was burning within her, alternating between freezing cold and searing heat. She coughed violently, as if a knife was slicing through her lungs.
"So, you're saying that this paper is yours?"
Professor Louis walked up to Emily. The girl's face was flushed red, and the signs of lying were too obvious. It was no wonder he found it hard to believe that Ryan had written the paper.
"No!"
Emily straightened her back, using all her strength to suppress the suffocating cough: "The paper is Ryan's! It's just that I was the one who typed it up."
Louis was taken aback with a stunned laugh: "Even Ryan admitted—"
"What he admitted was that the paper wasn't 'written' by him. True, he didn't use a pen or type it himself, so he didn't 'write' it. But isn't the essence of a paper the ideas? Typing and organizing are merely the work of a typist." After her long explanation, Emily felt like her chest might explode from the pressure.
So uncomfortable…
She began to cough violently again.
Louis laughed, finding this the most entertaining thing he had seen in his teaching career: "Ryan, tell us yourself, are the ideas in the paper really yours?"
Ryan's gaze remained fixed on Emily. The morning light streamed through the window, bathing both him and her in its glow.
"No."
His response was blunt and to the point.
The classroom erupted in laughter!
The students were laughing so hard that tears were nearly spilling from their eyes.
The foolish and pitiable Emily had gone to such lengths for Ryan, but he didn't even appreciate it. Shoujo manga may portray sweet romantic fantasies, but reality was far harsher. With someone as cold-hearted as Ryan, a girl like Emily could only end up digging her own grave.
Daisy couldn't bear to look at Emily at that moment. If she were in her place, she would have wished to bury her head in the ground.
Her tightly clenched fingers slowly relaxed…
At that moment, all of Emily's strength seemed to drain away. She clung to the desk, suddenly overwhelmed by the urge to cry. This was a disaster! If she failed this time, she might not even get her diploma…
She raised her head, biting her lip as she looked at Ryan.
Is there any chance for redemption? Even the slightest chance, perhaps the paper…
Ryan looked into those eyes—
Clear as water, black and white, with a touch of dejection, weakness, and a stubbornness that refused to turn back even when hitting a wall!
He coldly curled his lips into a smirk, reached out his right arm, and grasped her thin shoulder. With a slight force, he pulled the bewildered Emily into his embrace.
He leaned down.
And kissed her lips!
Professor Louis stood right in front of them, still holding the paper!
The entire class was watching them!
Ryan kissed Emily.
The students in the class had completely forgotten how to breathe.
The atmosphere was intensely quiet.
Ryan kissed Emily, holding her head firmly as he kissed her deeply. Emily's eyes widened in shock, unable to make sense of what was happening, her hands frozen in mid-air.
His lips were burning hot.
His full, searing lips lingered on her cracked, pale ones, a soft moan escaping him. The classroom was transformed into a scene as steamy and heart-pounding as a passionate movie.
In his embrace, Emily could hear his heartbeat—thumping so familiar and yet so long unheard…
She closed her eyes, wrapping her arms around his back. Let her stay like this in his arms, pretending nothing had happened, pretending everything was as perfect as before.
But Ryan pulled away.
"Let's go on a date tomorrow."
It was a command, not a request. His voice was cold and distant, as if the passionate kiss from moments ago had never occurred.